NORTHBROOK, Ill., Feb. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Astellas US LLC and WiserCare, a company that develops healthcare decision support solutions, announced today a new collaboration focused on improving patient experience by eliciting and integrating patient feedback to improve patient communication and shared decision-making tools.

The project will examine how patients learn about their disease states or conditions, including their options for treatment, and will test various approaches to communicating the risks and benefits of these options. By integrating patient feedback to different communication designs and delivery methods, Astellas and WiserCare aim to reduce patient anxiety about and increase satisfaction with their decisions, to improve adherence to care plans, and improve the overall care experience.

This 12-month initiative will examine patient decision-making for DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), localized prostate cancer, menopause, and mild to moderate depression. For menopause, the collaboration will include additional patient interviews to develop a robust understanding of patient treatment decision factors.

The project will utilize WiserCare's online interactive approach to shared decision-making. Shared decision-making is a collaborative approach where patients learn about their treatment options and express their preferences for care in advance of meeting with their physician, so that they may have a more productive dialogue and make more confident care decisions.  Patients use WiserCare independently, resulting in patient and care team reports that prepare the patient and care teams for a more focused, satisfying visit.

"Astellas seeks unique and innovative external collaborations to deliver value beyond traditional pathways," said Doug Noland, head of patient experience, executive director, Astellas US. "We feel there is great potential to better help patients navigate the hundreds of decisions they make during their journey, and we are eager to collaborate with WiserCare on this important work."

"When patients engage in treatment decisions, they are likely to have better quality outcomes and lower costs, and they are more satisfied with the care they receive," said Jared Drake, Chief Operating Officer, WiserCare. "We are excited to collaborate with Astellas on this initiative and believe it will generate meaningful and lasting insights to improve the patient experience."

The project is expected to complete in January 2020.

About Astellas 
Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com/us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

About WiserCare (www.wisercare.com)
WiserCare's patient decision support platform uses a patented intelligent agent to analyze a patient's clinical situation, goals, preferences and barriers to provide personalized, evidence-based guidance on what treatments fit best. This equips patients and physicians with new insight in advance of the visit, and helps them make smarter, more confident decisions in less time. The company works with health systems across the U.S. to improve clinical and financial outcomes by increasing the quality of treatment decisions at scale.

SOURCE Astellas